1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to satellite positioning systems. In particular, this invention relates to satellite positioning systems implemented utilizing the processing power of a host in communication with a hardware tracker.
2. Related Art
The worldwide utilization of wireless devices such as two-way radios, pagers, portable televisions, personal communication system (“PCS”), personal digital assistants (“PDAs”) cellular telephones (also known a “mobile phones”), Bluetooth, satellite radio receivers and Satellite Positioning Systems (“SPS”) such as Global Positioning Systems (“GPS”), also known as NAVSTAR, is growing at a rapid pace. Current trends are calling for the incorporation of SPS services into a broad range of electronic devices and systems, including Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), cellular telephones, portable computers, automobiles, and the like. At the same time, manufacturers constantly strive to reduce costs and produce the most cost-attractive product possible for consumers.
In the past, providing a SPS solution often involved expensive dedicated SPS signal reception and processing hardware, as well as dedicated post processing hardware for resolving location measurements, displaying location coordinates, updating map displays, and the like. However, given the rapid growth in speed, sophistication, and processing power of the host microprocessors present in the host device (e.g., in a cellular telephone or automobile), the possibility exists for allowing the host microprocessor to bear the burden not only of running its regular applications, but also to operate as part of the SPS solution. Such an approach is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,503, titled “Distributed GPS Navigation System,” issued to Paul W. McBurney et al., the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
As noted above, however, there is a strong push toward incorporating SPS solutions in many electronic devices designed by numerous manufacturers. Of course, each device varies considerably in architecture, operating system, hardware interfaces, and the like. Prior SPS solutions did not provide the flexibility that allowed the solutions to be adapted to a wide range of electronic devices. Instead, expensive customized solutions were needed for each device, thereby undesirably increasing costs and delaying the introduction of SPS services into a wide range of devices.
Therefore, a need exists for implementations of SPS solutions that overcome the problems noted above and others previously experienced.